Raymond's Shootout Winner Gives Red Wings a Win Over Sharks Despite No Goals

Lucas Raymond still has zero goals on the season, and that won't change the fact that his shootout winner was the most important score the Red Wings got all week. Shootout goals don't go into a skater's regular goal total, so the box score will keep showing a blank next to his name. The standings won't care about that, though. Detroit finished its seven-game early-October stretch at Little Caesars Arena with a 2-1 shootout win over the San Jose Sharks, moving to 3-3-2.

A Comeback Built on the Second Line

The Red Wings didn't get there cleanly. San Jose led for most of the night, and it took a late push to get back in it. Alex DeBrincat tied the game with less than two minutes left, and that goal changed the complexion of the final stretch. Instead of a tired defeat, the building got a team that had fought its way back.

The second line carried much of that effort. DeBrincat, Emmitt Finnie and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard generated the pressure that forced overtime and then the shootout. That's a useful group to have on the ice in those spots, and it's a reminder that Detroit's depth has to come from more than one line right now. The top unit has gone quiet in front of the net, so when the second group keeps pushing, it gives the coaching staff a real option.

Finnie's Quiet Rise

Finnie has been the story of the second line. He has picked up two points in two of Detroit's last three games, which is the kind of production that turns a depth role into something more. He's now the center on that unit, and the Red Wings are leaning on him in a way that would have seemed unlikely a few weeks ago.

That matters because of who isn't available. Marco Kasper is out week-to-week, and the rest of the center group, Kasper included, hasn't been known for consistent scoring. Dylan Larkin has been the exception. When the depth centers are asked to drive offense, it's fair to wonder how much room there is for error. Finnie's development is one of the more encouraging threads from this homestand, and the club will need it to hold up while Kasper is sidelined.

The positives are real but not finished. Detroit recorded its first back-to-back wins of the season, and it also got its first victory when scoring first. The flip side is that the Sharks scored three straight goals after the Red Wings' early tally, with Macklin Celebrini and his teammates doing the damage. Holding a lead has been the club's weak spot, and the Red Wings will need to clean that up if they want to turn these close games into steady points.

Four Games in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada

The schedule is about to get tougher in a different way. Detroit opens a four-game West Coast trip against the Seattle Kraken, then faces the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, in that order. Long road trips test depth more than any stretch of home games, especially when the roster is still sorting out its middle six. A team that can't score first or protect leads will find those western buildings unforgiving.

Here's the thing: this trip doesn't need to produce four wins to matter. A strong start in Seattle and a competitive effort in Vancouver would give the Red Wings a foundation heading into Calgary and Edmonton. Teams in this spot often find their identity on the road, and the second line's recent push suggests Detroit has at least some of the pieces it needs.

Kiiskinen Makes His Presence Felt

While the NHL club worked through its issues, prospect Jesse Kiiskinen was making noise in the American Hockey League. The former Nashville Predators third-round pick made the full-time jump to North American professional hockey this season, and he has put up 5 goals and 2 assists in 7 games. Those are encouraging numbers for a player adjusting to a new league, a new country and a new level of pace.

The Finnish winger has also shown the physical side of his game. Over the weekend he dropped the gloves with Chicago Blackhawks prospect Jake Furlong, the first AHL fight of his career. Fights in the minors often say more about a player's willingness to match physicality than about his fighting ability, and Kiiskinen's willingness to stand up for himself fits the profile of a winger who wants to be noticed in every area of the ice.

He'll likely spend most of the year with the Grand Rapids Griffins. That's the normal development path for a young forward still building his game. But Detroit's bottom six has been short on scoring, and the Red Wings may give him a few looks later in the season if he keeps producing. That's the sort of call that often comes when a club needs a spark and a prospect has earned a closer look.

Around the Roster

Jacob Bernard-Docker was placed on waivers, a move that signals the club is weighing its depth on the blue line. Several past and current Red Wings 40-goal scorers also had strong weekends, which is a nice reminder of the scoring tradition Detroit's veterans bring with them, even while the current group works through its slump.

Elsewhere around the league, the Pittsburgh Penguins are drawing trade chatter, the New York Rangers are preparing for a week that includes two games in Canada, the Philadelphia Flyers picked up their first win of the season over the Ottawa Senators, and the Colorado Avalanche are dealing with several injuries to their forwards ahead of a two-game road trip.

The next test is the West Coast swing. If Raymond's shootout winner turns into a few more wins in Seattle and Vancouver, this early-season stretch will look like the start of something. If the team keeps trading leads, the margin for error gets thin fast.